What Is Sustainable Agriculture Origin of the TBL The USDA's definition of sustainable agriculture comes from John Ikerd of the University of Missouri Ikerd defined sustainable agriculture as farming systems capable of maintaining their productivity and usefulness to society indefinitely Such systems must be resource conserving socially supportive commercially competitive and environmentally sound s John Elkington founder of the British consulting group Sustainability coined the phrase triple bottom line in 1994 He wanted companies to consider three separate bottom lines rather than only the one related to economic profit He defined the second a the people account measuring the company's social responsibility and the third as the planet account measuring its environmental responsibility Only then Elkington said was a company considering the full cost of doing business Social costs became more obvious when companies such as Nike were caught using child labor in less developed countries Environmental damage including carbon pollution and rainforest logging also helped spur the TBL movement But the and planet aspects of TBL are hard to measure Most companies still focus on profit as the only bottom line In 1987 the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations defined the term sustainable to mean agriculture must meet present needs while still making it possible for future generations to meet their needs This requires us to be stewards of both natural and human resources It also requires an interdisciplinary approach throughout the entire food system That is all interested parties researchers farmers farmworkers consumers and politicians must cooperate to make sustainable agriculture work Sustainable agriculture incorporates three separate but interrelated goals economic profitability social equity and environmental health In the sustainability movement these goals are referred to as the triple bottom line TBL They are also described as the three Ps profit people and planet 10
Sustainability The Three Legs of Sustainability The Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems CIAS at the University of Wisconsin illustrates sustainable agriculture as a three legged stool All three legs representing the economy environment and community are necessary for agricultural systems to remain stable and sustainable Sustainability Combines Old and New When most people think of cutting edge science and technology they envision shiny exciting inventions perhaps a self driving car or a single pill that cures cancer Sustainable agriculture sometimes appears to take the opposite approach with people returning to old methods rather than looking forward There is good reason for this Some advances in agriculture seemed miraculous in the 1940s and 1950s for example pesticides destroyed harmful insects and artificial fertilizers combined 11
with improved genetics dramatically increased crop production But few people in the Wind turbines provide farmers with renewable energy industry or society considered potential negative effects of these technologies Now as people observe these harmful effects many are beginning to take a different approach toward the use of technology in agriculture Nevertheless today's sustainable farmers are not turning away from technology Instead they consider farming from a broader perspective They are seeking new directions using science based methods and technology so they lead to sustainability rather than the destruction of the environment As farmers begin to consider profit people and planet instead of profit alone they may sometimes return to tried and true methods in which they step back and let nature take its course But sustainable farmers also move forward developing new technologies and adapting old ones to better meet the goals of sustainability These technological advances include more efficient farm equipment applications of alternative energy use of biotechnology and use of electronic systems such as global positioning systems GPS Sustainable farmers hope that with proper care and application these new techniques and technologies will nurture many future generations 12
